If you're having trouble making or receiving calls, here are a few quick and easy troubleshooting tips that might get you up and running.
1. Check that there is service is available in your area.
If you're in a "no service" area, you won't be able to make calls. To make sure that voice service is available where you are, plug your address into our map and check your data coverage.
A "no service" area will show up in white.
2. Confirm that your phone number is active.
To check the status of your phone number, go to the main Device Settings page in your account and check the "State" of your device.
If your number is suspended or still porting, those statuses will show up here and you will not have voice services.
3. Confirm that voice services are enabled on your account.
To confirm that voice services are enabled on your account, go to the Device Settings page for your phone and make sure both "Can make calls" and "Can receive calls" are checked.
If the settings are grayed out (i.e. you can't update them) then the number is not active.
4. Confirm that you've allowed for long distance calling, if applicable.
If you're trying to call outside of the US, then make sure you have long distance calling plan.
North American long distance covers: Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, the Northern Mariana Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
5. Confirm that you're allowing your phone to roam.
If you're in a roaming area, you'll want to make sure the roaming settings on your phone are set to allow you to access the network.
6. Make sure to use 10-digit dialing.
If you're trying to dial a number only using 7 digits and you're getting error messages or unusual busy tones, try making the call again using all 10 digits. Madstar Mobile voice (and text) services are designed for use with 10-digit phone numbers and trying to dial with 7 digits can produce error messages that indicate that you need to set up an account or subscribe to a service.
7. Power cycle or soft reset your phone.
Shut your phone down by holding and pressing the power button on a smart phone or the Call End button on a feature phone. If you have a removable battery, remove it for about 30 seconds after you've shut the phone down. Then reinsert the battery and power the phone back up.
8. Re-sync your phone with the network.
If you've recently changed phone numbers or just activated for the first time with Madstar Mobile you may need to sync your phone with the network by doing a carrier reset.
9. Run a profile update.
You may need to run a profile update. Running a carrier reset will generally prompt a profile update but iPhones and some feature phones don't have a carrier reset option, so you'll need to do the profile update separately.
10. Run a PRL update.
On most Android and feature phones, running a PRL update may help with dropped calls and/or poor coverage and reception. This option is not split out on Windows and iPhones.
Get in touch.
If none of these tips have gotten you up and running, then it's time to get in touch so we can help. Please be sure to let us know what you've done already so we know where to pick up.